Means for transporting an information carrier

ABSTRACT

A means for transporting an information carrier from one reel to another one with the aid of the driving shaft of a motor, in which the assembly for tensioning an information carrier is fashioned as a hydraulic motor with two rotors mounted on a common shaft in such a manner that they are capable of independent rotation. One rotor is operatively rigidly connected with one of the reels, and the other rotor is similarly connected with the other reel.

United States Patent [191 Yastrebov et al.

[ Nov. 13, 1973 MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING AN INFORMATION CARRIER Inventors: Igor Alexandrovich Yastrebov,

Delegatsky pereulok, 10, kv. 1', Vladimir Valerianovich Benderovsky, ulitsa Dymerskaya, 37, kv. 1; Alexandr Ivanovich Schepotiev, Brest-Litovsky prospekt, l1, kv. 39; Alexel Petrovich Lysenko, Bulvar lv. Lepse, 57, kv. 114; Petr Alexandrovich Dvornikov, ulitsa Dovnar-Zapolskogo, 3/4, kv. 7; Anatoly Fedorovich Korotkov, Krakovskaya ulitsa, l2, kv. 40, all of Kiev, U.S.S.R.

Filed: Dec. 22, 1971 Appl. No.: 210,950

US. Cl. 242/196, 242/7553 Int. Cl. B65h 59/00, G1 1b 15/32 Field of Search 242/7553, 67.4,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,937,077 11/1933 West 242/7553 3,302,901 2/1967 Young et a1. 242/201 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 673,275 6/1952 Great Britain 242/201 Primary ExaminerLeonard D. Christian Attorney-Eric H. Waters et a1 [57] ABSTRACT A means for transporting an information carrier from one reel to another one with the aid of the driving shaft of a motor, in'which the assembly for tensioning an information carrier is fashioned as a hydraulic motor with two rotors mounted on a common shaft in such a manner that they are capable of independent rotation.

One rotor is operatively' rigidly connected with one of the reels, and the other rotor is similarly connected with the other reel.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures g fili 5 |||||||Il|l llllllllli H /1 j l PAIENIEDHUY 13 ms fh'fllllllllllllllllllllll F/EI MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING AN INFORMATION CARRIER The present invention relates to devices for recording and reproducing information and, more particularly, to means for transporting an information carrier, such as a magnetic tape, in diverse systems of automatic control, recording, etc.

The present invention can be employed in systems recording flight-performance data, installed in aircraft; in recording systems used in railway, water and motor transport; in numerical control centers of metal working and other machines, production lines, conveyers, etc.; in systems controlling technological processes in various spheres of engineering; in computers and control machines. I

The present invention can be most successfully used in places provided with hydraulic energysources.

Known in the art are means for transporting an infor mation carrier from one reel to the other one. In such means tensioning and winding of the information car? rier is effected with the aid of a flat ribbon spring which is wound up along a helix and whose inner coil is operatively connected to one reel and the outer coil to the other reel.

For instance, in the means for transporting an infor mation carrier, having an operatively closed connection (cf.U.S.S.R. Inventors Certificate No. 196,393; Class 42, issued on Apr. 20, 1966) the winding and tensioning of the carrier is carried out by means of a force developed by a ribbon spring wound-up along a helix.

The kinematic diagram of the conventional means is shown in FIG. 1.

This means comprises a receiving reel 1 and a feeding reel 2 with an information carrier 3 a driving motor (not shown in the drawing) with a driving shaft 4 interacting with said information carrier 3, and a spiral ribbon spring 5 operatively connected with said receiving reel l and feeding reel 2. v p

Secured on the shaft of the receiving. reel I is a gear wheel 6 which by means of a gear wheel 7 is operatively connected to a gear whe'elS.

The shaft of the gear wheel 8 i'scommon for the auxiliary. reel 9 and the gear wheel 10. The gearwheel 10 is engaged with a gear wheel lll'whos'eaxle has the outer coil of the-spiral ribbon spring 5 secured thereon.

The inner coil of the ribbon spring 5 is secured to the shaft of a gear wheel 12 which is operatively connected to a gear wheel 13. The shaft of the gear wheel 13 is common for an auxiliary reel 14 and a gear wheel 15. The gear wheel 15 is operatively connected via a gear wheel 16 to a gear wheel 17. The shaft of the gear wheel 17 is common for the feeding reel 2 as well. The auxiliary reels 9 and 14 are interconnected by an auxiliary tape 18. Y

However, the aforedescribed means for transporting 'an information carrier possesses substantial'disadvantages of which the main one is a small amount of the information carrier which is wound and tensioned by the spring 5 that is of a limited lengthj In case the length of the spring is enlarged in order to increase the amount of the information carrier on the reels, the weight and over-all dimensions of the means, as well as the non-uniformity of the tensioning of said information carrier, are increased too.

Another disadvantage of the means lies in nonuniform tensioning of the information carrier due to a change in the diameters of the rolls disposed on said reels 1 and 2 owing to a change in the force developed by the spring 5 when the latter is being wound up or released.

With the means in a non-operating state, the information carrier 3 still undergoes tensioning, as a result of which the carrier is stretched non-uniformly and is deformed, this bringing down the reliability of the operation of the means. I

Besides, such means are sensitive to vibration and shock loads in the course of their operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide such a means for transporting an information carrier from one reel to the other one, that would provide for a uniform tensioning of the information carrier of a great length.

This object is accomplished by that in a means for transporting an information carrier from one reel to the other one, having a driving motor operatively connected with a driving shaft interacting with said information carried, and an assembly for its tensioning, according to the present invention, the assembly for tensioning the information carrier is made as-a hydraulic motor with two rotors mounted on a common shaft in such a manner that they are capable of independent rotation, one of said rotors being operatively rigidly connected to one of the reels and the other rotor being operatively rigidly connected to the other reel. This makes it possible to increase the length of the information carrier and ensure its uniform tensioning.

The following description of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is given with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a kinematic diagram of the conventional means;

FIG. 2 is a kinematic diagram of the means for transporting an information carrier, according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view in section which shows an assembly for winding and tensioning an information carrier of the means for transporting an information carrier, according to the present invention.

The means for transporting an information carrier (FIG. 2 comprises two reels, and namely, a receiving one 1 anda feeding one 2, for accommodating said information carrier 3, a driving motor (not shown in the drawing), a driving shaft 4, and an assembly for tensioning and winding the information carrier 3.

The receiving reel landthe feeding reel 2 are interconnected by the information carrier 3 which is connected to the driving shaft 4 by means'of a friction force (during the reversal of the means the receiving reel may become a feeding one and the feeding reel a receiving one).

Rigidly secured on the shaft of the receiving reel 1 is a first gear wheel 19 which is engaged with a second gear wheel 20 rigidly connected with the sh aft of an internal rotor 21 of the'assembly for winding and tension ing the information carrier} which, according to the present invention, is made as a hydraulic motor.

A shaft 22 (see FIG. 3) of the internal rotor 21 is mounted in bearings 23 and 24 in a casing 25 of the motor.

' Mounted on the same shaft 22 of the internal rotor 21 in bearings 26 and 27 is an external rotor 28-which can rotate freely relative to the shaft 22 of the internal rotor 21. Radial slots of the internal rotor 21 accommodate movable blades 29 which are pressed against the inner surface of the external rotor 28 by springs 30.

Said blades 29 may be pressed against the inner surface of the external rotor 28 by the pressure of liquid supplied to the blades 29.

Secured at both end faces of the external rotor 28 are distribution discs 31 and 32 having passages made therein and used for supplying the working liquid into the working space of the winding and tensioning assembly and draining it therefrom. Besides, in order to supply and drain the liquid, the shaft 22 of the internal rotor 21 and the casing 25 of the motor are provided with passages 33 and 34.

Thus, the assembly for winding and tensioning the information carrier 3 is essentially a hydraulic motor with the released internal rotor 21 and stator'which, in this particular case, may be considered as an external rotor Rigidly secured to the external rotor 28 (FIG. 2 and FIG. 3) is a third gear wheel 35 which is engaged with a fourth gear wheel 36 rigidly secured on the shaft of the feeding reel 2 (FIG. 2)

The driving shaft 4 of the means for transporting the information carrier 3 is driven by the driving motor.

TI-Ie means for transporting the information carrier functions as follows.

With the means for transporting the information carrier switched on, the driving motor starts rotating the driving shaft 4. Owing to the friction force arising be tween the driving shaft 4 and the information carrier, the latter is transported from the feeding reel 2 to the receiving reel 1.

With the means for transporting the information carrier switched on, simultaneously with the beginning of transportation of said information carrier 3 the working liquid is supplied into the passage 33 of the hydraulic motor from a hydraulic energy source, for instance a hydraulic pump (not shown in the drawing).

The liquid is delivered along the passage made in the shaft 22 of the internal rotor 21 and via the passageof the distribution disc 31 into the working space to actuate the blades 29, as a result of which the internal rotor 21 starts rotating relative to theexternal rotor 28. From the working space the liquid is delivered along the passage in the distribution disc 32 and the passage in the shaft 22 to be drained via the passage 34.

As the internal rotor 21 and the external rotor 28 can rotate freely, in accordance with Newtons third law, with the working liquid passing through the hydraulic motor, the reaction forces of the internal rotor 21 and the external rotor 28, acting upon each other, will be equal in values but opposite in directions. Therefore, in their relative motion the internal rotor 21 and the external rotor 28 will rotate in different directions, whereby the internal rotor 21 connected with the receiving reel 1 (FIG. 2) will wind the information carrier 3 onto the receiving reel 1, whereas the external rotor 28 connected with the feeding reel 2 will somewhat brake the information carrier 3, as a result of which the latter is tensioned.

The embodiment of the assembly for winding and tensioning the information carrier, made in accordance with the present invention as a hydraulic motor allows to considerably decrease the time lag of the means due to the presence of the hydraulic connection between the reels and the information carrier, which raises the reliability of operation of the means under the conditions of the action of vibration and shock loads.

The value of the torque of the external rotor 28 relative to the internal rotor 21 is determined by the pressure of the working liquid and geometrical dimensions of the components of said assembly for winding and tensioning an information carrier.

Due to a change in the diameters of the rolls of the information carrier 3 on the receiving reel 1 and the feeding reel 2, between the latter there will always be provided a differential connection as one (the receiving one) of them is connected with the internal rotor 21 and the other (feeding) one is connected with the external rotor 28 of the assembly for winding and tensioning an information carrier.

Thus, in the means for transporting an information carrier said assembly for winding and tensioning the information carrier performs the function of, so to say, a continuous spring having a constantly developed force of reaction (due to the constant pressure of the liquid).

This makes it possible to increase the amount of the information carrier on the reels and, consequently, the amount of information stored per unit of the weight and dimensions.

In case the means for transporting an information carrier employs a hydraulic driving motor, the latter and the assembly for winding and tensioning an information carrier are fed from one source of hydraulic energy, for example, a hydraulic pump (not shown in the drawing).

The embodiment of the means for transporting an information carrier, made according 'to the present invention, allows to considerably widen up the sphere of application of apparatus of magnetic recording operating under heavy-duty conditions, for instance, in aircraft, various types of transport, machine building, various control systems, etc. This is achieved due to a number of substantial advantages of the means for transporting an information carrier according to the present invention over conventional similar means.

The embodiment of the assembly for winding and tensioning an information carrier, made according to thepresent invention, provides for a considerable increase in the amount of the information carrier on the reels, which, in its turn, willincrease the total amount of recorded information in spite of the small over-all dimensions and weight of the means.

The means for transporting an information carrier can be successfully used in places subject to considerable shock and vibration loads.

The means according to the present invention is highly reliable and has a long service life.

The simplicity of the design of the means according to the present invention makes easier its manufacture and reduces the cost of its manufacture and use.

We claim:

1. A means for transporting an information carrier, comprising at least two reels, said information carrier being wound onto one (a receiving one) of the reels and off the other (feeding) one; a driving shaft imparting a uniform rectilinear motion to said information carrier; an assembly for tensioning said information carrier including a hydraulic motor having a shaft and two rotors mounted in such a manner that they are capable of rotating independently relative to each other, one of said rotors being operatively rigidly connected with one of said reels, and the other rotor being operatively rigidly connected with the other reel. 

1. A means for transporting an information carrier, comprising at least two reels, said information carrier being wound onto one (a receiving one) of the reels and off the other (feeding) one; a driving shaft imparting a uniform rectilinear motion to said information carrier; an assembly for tensioning said information carrier including a hydraulic motor having a shaft and two rotors mounted in such a manner that they are capable of rotating independently relative to each other, one of said rotors being operatively rigidly connected with one of said reels, and the other rotor being operatively rigidly connected with the other reel. 